Coast to Coast ( the long way ) - Report by Kevin Dawson
For me this weekend will be remembered as one of the greats and I'm sure every one will be reliving it for some time to come, from the sandy beach at Boggle hole to the mud flats in the lakes. The atmosphere with all the group was superb. With Anton's immortal words “ ITS NOT A RACE ” still ringing in our ears we headed west ish |
 |
|---|---|
| The trails started nice and gentle, nothing too challenging which allowed us to settle down and the pace too build, as we reached the open moors around Richmond and Osmotherly we were stuck on cruise control even with the odd puncture being repaired only costing a few minutes. By the time we rolled into Northallerton, the second petrol stop we had gone from last on the road to being the lead group. | |
Slip sliding our way down a maze of grassy lanes we arrived at the Fountains Earth along which we tootled, as we exchanged Fountains Earth for Scar we were tootling at such a pace that two of our riders became temporarily detached from their bikes (unfortunately one had to be me) |
|
| After just over 10 hours and 167 miles we arrived at the night stop in Kettlewell and stole our prize, the garage which would only just hold our 8 bikes all warm and snug. | |
| Day 2 | |
| Being reminded by Anton that “IT IS DEFINITELY NOT A RACE” we decided to proceed at a more comfortable pace and so be sure of reaching the end of our journey. We managed to keep this in mind as far as the start of the first trail when it was back too that tootling again. Now on familiar ground we were fuelling at Hawes in what seemed like no time at all, where we greeted the back up team Jim and Carl with the normal “so how far in front are they” | |
| For me we were now entering unknown ground as Cotterdale left us with yet another puncture repair this time in the rain. From here to Tebay we had every thing from open fast moors to tight twisty tracks, river crossings and steep rocky climbs. When we entered the Lake District things became a lot more technical with what seemed endless rocks and boulders to ride up and over even the rivers were deeper, when you see a sign saying deep water it probably is, and it was !! |  |
| Grizedale was everything I had imagined but so much more.When eventually we snorted down onto the mud flats at Grange Over Sands we had ridden for another 10 hours and over the two days clocked up an amazing 317 miles The moral at the end was as high as when we set off, even the rain and hail couldn't dampen our spirits. | |
Many thanks again to Anton and his team for organising such a high class event. (can't wait for the return run) PS Anton was right “IT WASN'T A RACE”( but we did get there first). Kev Dawson |
 |